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Bloody
News from My Friend
Poems by Siamanto
Translated by Peter Balakian and Nevart Yaghlian
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Siamanto
(1875-1915), one of the most important Armenian poets of the twentieth-century,
was among the Armenian intellectuals executed by the Turkish government
at the onset of the genocide during the first decade of the century. Available
for the first time in English translation, his
Bloody News from My Friend depicts the atrocities
committed by the Ottoman Turkish government against its Armenian population.
The cycle of twelve poems bears the imprint of genocide in a language that
is raw and blunt; it often eschews metaphor and symbol for more stark representation.
Siamanto confronts pain, destruction, sadism, and torture as few modern
poets have. Peter Balakian's critical introduction places Siamanto's poems
in literary and historical context. The translation by Balakian and Nevart
Yaghlian allows readers to hear Siamanto's startling and arresting voice
in a fresh, vernacular language. |
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